The burnt chassis of cars continued to remain in the closed-off parking lot of Aero India after being destroyed in fire, which could have started from an overheated silencer of one of the cars.
On Saturday noon, a fire broke out at the P5 parking lot of Aero India, where over 3,000 vehicles were parked. The blaze eventually let to the gutting of 277 cars, while a further 73 cars were partially damaged. The police said they had got 277 registrations from distraught car owners at the 12 help desks set up on the spot.
During a visit to the parking lot on Sunday, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was told by senior Indian Air Force officers that the “the probable cause was stated as fire starting from an overheated silencer of one of the cars parked,” said a Defence spokesperson in a statement.
“Some cars were broken open, even when they had started burning. These cars were then pushed out of the fire area to create an artificial break in the fire,” said the statement.
The fire spread quickly owing to strong winds of over 30 kmph, and within a few minutes, the planned response was activated, said the spokesperson. Thirteen fire tenders, seven water bowsers, 33 Agni Varuna vehicles, and six crash fire tenders of the IAF were deployed into action to douse the fire within 45 minutes, said a release. A total of 3,000 litres of foam was used during the operations.
On Sunday, owners continued to pour in to claim ownership of the cars. Officials said that they could identify chassis number of only about 60-65% of the burnt cars. A few owners identified their cars with accessories inside such as burnt umbrellas, tiffin boxes, key bunches, and other metal items.
Seemanth Kumar Singh, Additional Commissioner of Police, who is also nodal officer for the air show, said the Police and Transport Department officials have completed the formalities of 150 cars. FIRs would be issued soon to owners, which would allow them to claim insurance.
Each of the 12 teams comprising RTO Inspectors inspected up to 10 cars to assess the extent of damage and process the report, said Narayanaswamy C.P., Additional Commissioner, Transport. Prashant M. Dixit from RMB event management firm that was responsible for deputing manpower for parking said their 45 employees, who were at Gate 5, had done their jobs by ensuring vehicles were neatly parked and lanes existed for fire tenders to douse the blaze.
Meanwhile, Home Minister M.B. Patil, who visited the spot, promised a thorough inquiry.